Invaders from outer space

Oumuamua, the asteroid that was recently discovered in our solar system is on its way out again.  A once in a lifetime opportunity is leaving with it.

We live in a silver age of space technology.  Be it the advances of SpaceX, or NASA’s success in getting a probe to Pluto, we are truly beginning to go where no one has gone before.

That being said, this asteroid has already come from there, and is going back there, and presents a unique opportunity which we might never see again.  You see, the asteroid is already on an interstellar flight path, and doesn’t need any fuel, or corrections, it is going where it is going, and nothing we have can stop it.

That being said, it would be an interesting ride to be able to hitch along with our guest, and transmit back while it continues on its way.  A crash mission could have been devised, and rushed into production to have a probe attach itself to the asteroid, and then remain with it, while it passes out of our corner of the Milky way.

We have the technology, we have the will, we have the power.  But, somehow, no one put together the idea that we could do it.  Take a Falcon Heavy 9, (The SLS is still in development) and a nuclear core (like we’ve already used from Pioneer to Deep Horizons) put together some sensors, a big gain antenna, and launch the probe so it can catch up with our visitor.

The NEAR mission was able to successfully rendezvous with and even go into orbit around an asteroid.  We have been tailgating comets for years.  So, again, the technology already exists for everything to fall into place.  In a pinch, we could probably even repurpose another probe to take over the role.

So why haven’t we?  Are we so lacking in imagination as a human species that we didn’t have the will to make this mission happen?  It would be unprecedented in our annals.  Yet, for some reason, we would rather wave goodbye to this new asteroid, and be content to never hear from it again.

Certainly, eventually another asteroid will show up from deep space, but, who knows when, and how.  This is here, now, and the opportunity is there for the taking.  while it may take thousands of years to reach its next destination, humanity would have a new perspective on the cosmos, without needing anything more than the will to push ourselves towards a new frontier.

That, in a nutshell, is why the space program seems so futile.  Because in the end, even if we do go somewhere, it is so watered down, that being first doesn’t necessarily mean trailblazing.  it just means that everyone wanted all the variables settled before they took that one small step for man.